North Americans are ignoring the largely skewed news coverage they are being fed by mass media abroad and continuing to ‘come home to Israel’ regardless of the grim news headlines around the conflict with Gaza.

One of the special Nefesh B’Nefesh aliyah flights from New York that takes place each summer arrived bright and early Tuesday, bringing 338 new “olim” to Ben Gurion International Airport on the wings of Israel’s national carrier, El Al Airlines.

The 38 new Israeli families included 107 children and 108 young men and women who are soon to become soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces.

The new immigrants, who came from the United States and Canada were welcomed by top government officials at a special ceremony held under tight security inside the airport.

The next batch of new immigrants – “olim”- from the United States is scheduled to land at Ben Gurion Airport Tuesday morning, and 108 of the 338 newbies are planning to enlist directly into the IDF.

The charter flight by the Nefesh B’Nefesh group will fly 37 families, including 107 children, all of whom will be greeted by Israel’s new President, Reuven Rivlin, Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky, among other officials.

Aliyah form the United States and Canada is co-sponsored by the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Aliyah, the Jewish national Fund (JNF) and the “Tzofim garin Tsabar” movement that oversees the enlistment of olim ready to start out their lives in Israel as soldiers.

New York Yankees president Randy Levine treated 40 of the prospective new soldiers to a baseball game as a going-away present.

Among the 228 new immigrants from the United States and Canada that arrived to Israel on Tuesday morning, July 22, seven doctors will be working in medical centers across the country and an 18-year-old high school graduate from Chicago is getting ready to join the IDF.

Barak Vaisler of Chicago believes it’s his duty to make aliyah to the Jewish state. The Israeli-born native who moved to Chicago when he was two-years-old because of his father’s work with Motorola, has always dreamed of returning.

“I could have stayed in the United States with my parents and went to college like everyone else, but I chose the road less taken,” Vaisler told Tazpit News Agency.

“It’s honor to be here and to serve this country and I still can’t believe that I’m finally here after 16 years,” he said emotionally. Vaisler, who will join the Garin Tzabar lone soldier program in August and will go into the army in November, wants to enlist to the Airborne Rescue and Evacuation Unit 669. “It’s the Israeli version of the U.S. Coast Guard,” says Vaisler.

Vaisler’s first experience with a Gaza rocket took place a couple of hours after landing in Ben Gurion Airport. “I was waiting for a taxi outside when the siren went off. We had already been prepared beforehand by Nefesh B’Nefesh for the rocket sirens and security protocol before we landed in Israel” he said.

More than 2,000 rockets have been fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip at major Israeli cities and towns for the past two weeks, with several rockets directed at Ben Gurion Airport, which have been intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome.

According to Nefesh B’Nefesh, upon arriving to the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, the group received a special booklet by the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption on security measures, such as what to do when a Code Red siren sounds warning of incoming rockets. Each new Israeli immigrant was also provided with an English-language manual from the Israel Home Front Command on how to talk to children about the situation, which had been translated by Nefesh B’Nefesh.

Those immigrants planning to live in the south also received special briefings about the security situation, such as information about trauma counseling and support from English-speaking immigrants living in the area.

Among the 228 new olim, 100 are children who made aliyah with their parents including 39 girls and 61 boys. Altogether, 29 families and 54 singles joined the landmark flight, which included Olim planning to live in Israel’s south and north, as part of a joint project to settle Olim in the Negev and the Galilee. One olah, Ilana Barta, 23, from Teaneck, New Jersey, arrived with her wedding dress in hand for her August wedding with her fiance, an officer in the IDF Paratrooper unit who is on active duty in Gaza.

A number of Israeli dignitaries greeted Vaisler and the group as they touched down in Israel as new citizens including the Minister of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, Sofa Landver; MK Rabbi Dov Lipman; Chair of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Natan Sharansky; Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Yisrael Meir Lau and Founders of Nefesh B’Nefesh, Tony Gelbart and Rabbi Yehoshua Fass who escorted the special flight.

“Today’s Aliyah flight demonstrates the great resilience of the Jewish people and its determination to build the State of Israel,” said Nefesh B’Nefesh Co-Founder and Executive Director Rabbi Yehoshua Fass. “These olim, who are choosing to move to Israel in these difficult times are instilling hope, optimism and strength throughout Israel and the Jewish nation. The outpouring number of requests we received to join the flight out of solidarity for the citizens of Israel is inspiring.”

Ben-Gurion Airport – Despite the deteriorating security situation, 64 new immigrants from the United States made aliyah to Israel today. The new Israelis hail from Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Virginia, and range in age from eight months to 92 years.

Lottie Herman, the oldest member of the group, fled Germany to America in 1939. She will be settling in Jerusalem.

Another olah chadasha (new immigrant), 26-year-old Becky Kupchan, said she was moving from her native Chicago to Beer Sheva, the capital city of the Negev.

“Although the security situation in Israel is very tense right now, and in Beer Sheva where I’m about to move rockets are falling, I am not afraid. I trust the Israeli government and the IDF,” said Kupchan, after she arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport. “I’m a Jew and I’ve always dreamed about making Aliyah to Israel, my home — and at home you always feel safe.”

“The Olim who’ve chosen to make Aliya to Israel during these challenging days are real heroes, and each one of them fills our heart with pride and great inspiration,” said Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Nefesh B’Nefesh. “Becky from Chicago, who has chosen to live in the city of Beer Sheva in the South, is one of them and we will do whatever we can to assist her in her new home in the State of Israel.”

Tuesday’s group aliyah was made in partnership with the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency for Israel, KKL and JNF-USA, and Nefesh B’Nefesh.

According to Nefesh B’Nefesh 97% of its olim have remained in Israel thanks to its support programs and comprehensive social services to more than 38,000 newcomers.

Hundreds of Lone Soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) units are expected to gather May 15 at Beit Hachayal in Tel Aviv for a special “Yom Sidurim.”

The initiative was organized by Nefesh B’Nefesh and Friends of the IDF (FIDF) Lone Soldiers Program, in cooperation with the IDF Manpower Branch, to facilitate the needs of IDF “lone soldiers” – young men and women who immigrate without their immediate families to serve in the IDF. Lone soldiers are eligible for a personal day every two months in order to attend to personal affairs.

“The purpose of this event is to help Lone Soldiers complete all the arrangements required of them. This initiative was launched in order to help make things easier for Lone Soldiers, and was made out of respect, and recognition of the challenges with which Lone Soldiers have to deal with on a daily basis,” said Col. Eyal Karolizki, head of the Welfare Department of the IDF Manpower Branch.

About 2,800 Lone Soldiers currently serve in the IDF including: 890 from the United States, 404 from Russia, 264 from Ukraine, 165 from France, 79 from Canada, 78 from Britain, 59 from Belarus, 40 from Moldova, 37 from Australia, 37 from South Africa, 34 from Kazakhstan, 29 from Uzbekistan, 28 from Argentina, 26 from Brazil, 25 from Mexico, 21 from Colombia, 20 from Germany, 20 from Italy, 20 from Azerbaijan, 14 from Holland, 14 from Venezuela, 12 from Georgia, 12 from Belgium, 11 from Uruguay, 9 from Spain, 9 from Peru, 8 from Guatemala, 6 from Hungary, 5 from Sweden, and soldiers from dozens of other countries such as Armenia, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Romania , Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan.

“We are extremely excited to be joining forces with all of our partners in creating this one-stop shop for our dedicated Lone Soldiers,” said Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, founder and Executive Director of Nefesh B’Nefesh. “Every single soldier is a source of pride and inspiration for us, and it is our duty to do all we can to make their army service and Aliyah easier for them.”

Nefesh B’Nefesh, the Aliyah organization assisting Olim from North America and the UK, in cooperation with The Jewish Agency for Israel, the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel, JNF-USA and the Friends of the IDF, has produced a short video in honor of Israel’s Independence Day, in which Israeli heroes together with new and veteran Olim, recite Israel’s Declaration of Independence translated into English.

The purpose of the video is to inspire Jews around the world while reminding them of the significance and miracle of the Jewish State.